


Tale As Old As Time

by BeautifulMusings



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Post-Episode: s12e10 The Timeless Children, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23191219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeautifulMusings/pseuds/BeautifulMusings
Summary: The Doctor receives a distress call from an old friend. However, on answering the call she uncovers something truly awful and she promises to give all she has to save the Master.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 68





	Tale As Old As Time

It had been a month since the Doctor had managed to escape the drifting Judoon prison; having been married to River she considered herself to be quite the expert at prison breaks. The charge had unfairly been the use of the death particle – use of such a weapon was unsurprisingly outlawed across all galaxies and closely monitored by the Judoon. The Doctor had of course pleaded not guilty to the charge, but the Judoon - being the notoriously stubborn race that they were - had refused to listen and had sentenced her to life imprisonment. She guessed that they might still be a bit annoyed with her over the stolen planets incident…

Once back in her Tardis (with the doors locked this time) she had set a course for 21st century Sheffield. She was very keen to see the friendly faces of her Fam again. In truth, she had been a bit tempted to first make a trip to Gallifrey….she didn’t know what she hoped to find there…but she missed ‘home’. She had spent most of (what she remembered of her life) running away from the Time Lords, but now…now she felt lonely, and with the Master gone – lonelier than ever before. She had resisted that temptation though - what would have been the point? And she had continued straight to Sheffield as planned. Now was not the time for her to be looking backwards.

* * * * *

Yaz, Ryan and Graham were all overjoyed to see her again.

“Where, and when, do you plan to take us this time?” asked Ryan eagerly. The Doctor pursed her lips in thought.

“Hmm…I was thinking maybe New New New York, around 20,000 years from now. Wait - as I am technically now a fugitive of the Judoon that might be a bit risky…maybe a trip to Barcelona, the dogs there-”

“When did you become a fugitive of the Judoon?” interrupted Graham in disbelief.

“After what happened on Gallifrey,” the Doctor answered nonchalantly. She didn’t look up as she moved round the control console flipping switches as she went. “It seems that they thought I was to blame for the use of the death particle, which I was, I guess, in a way, technically, but the whole thing wasn’t my fault.”

“No, it was the Master’s fault, not yours” interjected Yaz pointedly.

“Yes, exactly, not my fault one bit” said the Doctor, in a way that convinced absolutely no-one. “I managed to escape my cell though, after my trial. I don’t do well in confined spaces so there was really no choice but to escape, facing life imprisonment and all. It was a pretty good escape too, my late wife would have been very proud of me, a great utilisation of spoons,” she said with a smile. They all looked at her sceptically. “My pockets are bigger on the inside,” she offered by way of explanation.

“So we’re fugitives now?” asked Yaz with a raised eyebrow.

“No. Not you lot - just me,” answered the Doctor casually while taking a custard cream from the Tardis biscuit dispenser as she dialled in the last of the coordinates for Barcelona.

“But shouldn’t we try to clear your name or something?” suggested Yaz.

“Yeah, we could all vouch for you Doc,” agreed Graham, “that would surely help.”

“Thanks, maybe later, but right now let’s go to Barcelona,” she said pulling down the leaver. There was the familiar whirling of the engines, but then all of a sudden it felt as though the Tardis was tossed to one side.

“What was that!” exclaimed Yaz as she, Ryan and Graham gripped hold of the railings behind them.

“It’s a distress call! And a powerful one at that!” answered the Doctor above the din of the Tardis’s unimpressed engines. “I could break the Tardis free,” she shouted, “but I think we should take a look - what do you say Fam – up for a rescue mission?” she asked grinning. This was exactly what she needed – to save someone, anyone. They all agreed without hesitation, she loved that about them, and the Tardis was off on its new heading. One day I’ll make it to Barcelona she thought.

* * * * *

As the whirring of the Tardis’s engine stilled the Doctor made her way back to the control panel.

“We’re close to when we were last time, relatively speaking,” observed the Doctor. “We’re only 1000 years after the Cyber Wars. Different part of the universe mind. And we’re on a ship. Wait I know this ship, the Tardis has been here before!” she exclaimed. “Of course - that’s why the distress signal could pull the Tardis here. This is Porridge’s ship – old friend of mine,” she explained to them in a rush. “Right Fam, it looks like his ship is badly damaged. Life support is failing all over. Let’s see what we can do to fix it.” Her pale blue coat swirled about her as she raced out of the Tardis.

As she flung open the Tardis door she was met with smoke and the distinct smell of burning circuits, the oxygen levels were dangerously low, she could taste it in the air.

“Is one of you the Doctor?” questioned a man as he rushed towards them.

“Yes, I am. What happened here?” she asked, her eyes running over the damage all around them.

“A group of revolutionaries set off bombs all over the ship, life support is failing, the fleet is on the way but they won’t arrive in time,” he said in a rush.

“Take me to main engineering,” directed the Doctor, “I will try and give you the extra time. Yaz, Graham and Ryan, find what survivors you can and take them to the Tardis – you only have 10 minutes. Close the doors if I am not back by then – understand me?” They all nodded. “And be careful.”

“This way Doctor,” said the man as he led her down a corridor to the left.

“What’s your name?” she asked running beside him.

“John, John Beacham, chief of the Imperial Guard.”

“Nice to meet you John Beacham,” smiled the Doctor. “Porridge – I mean the Emperor – how is he?” she asked concerned.

“He’s alive, but barely,” grimaced John as they turned down another corridor. “The attack took us completely by surprise. A bomb went off inside his quarters but he was thankfully on his way out as it happened, otherwise he would be dead.”

“Noted. Let’s see what we can do to save this ship. How many crew are there?”

“We’re three hundred strong, families included.” The Doctor winced as he said this. They turned another corridor and then they were upon what remained of engineering.

The room was burning. All but one of the control panels was fried and a fire was raging in one corner which several crew were frantically trying to put out. The Doctor rushed over to the only functioning control panel and ran her screwdriver over it. She didn’t like the readings.

“We have around 10 minutes until there is no air left to breathe.” As she was speaking her fingers were dancing over the keys on the panel. “I am directing everything to the life support system, shields, communications everything. How close is the nearest ship in your fleet?”

“30 minutes, and the nearest habitable planet is more than two hours away. They must have known our flight plan and that this is when we would be the most vulnerable.”

“Okay, with the extra power diverted you have fifteen minutes – that’s an extra five minutes to direct everyone to my ship. I can get you all out of here. Tell everyone to stop with the repairs and get to my ship,” she instructed. John nodded and made the ship wide announcement. He and the Doctor made their way to the medical wing to help transport the injured to the Tardis.

The Doctor’s hearts sank when she saw the extent of Porridge’s injuries. He didn’t have that long at all, but she refused to let him die on this ship surrounded by chaos. He smiled weakly up at her as she helped to transfer him into a portable medical unit. She then raced with the unit towards the Tardis, the other medical personal and injured following closely behind her. The Tardis’s doors were closed, but with a click of her fingers they were open.

“It’s alright Fam, I managed to buy a little extra time,” she shouted as she ran up the ramp with the unit in front of her. They were all extremely relieved to see her.

Once the last of the survivors was safely inside she closed the Tardis doors and made her way over to them.

“The ship couldn’t be saved. I’m going to get us a safe distance away from it in case it explodes and then we can wait until the Emperor’s fleet arrives,” she said to them.

“No!” cried John approaching her. “How quick is this ship of yours Doctor?” he asked urgently.

“It can travel anywhere in an instant, why are you asking?”

“There is a place where any wound can be healed, I beg you to take us there,” he asked desperately. “I know the co-ordinates, all of the Imperial Guard do. It is the only way to save the Emperor’s life. Please, Doctor, we have to save him.” The Doctor sighed and shook her head solemnly.

“I am sorry John, but his wounds are too severe. There is no power that can save him now-”

“-But there is a power, if you go to the galactic co-ordinates 10-0-11-0-0 by 0-2 from galactic 0 centre you’ll find the place. Please Doctor, do this for us. For the sake of a thousand galaxies. We cannot let the revolutionaries win,” John begged dropping to his knees.

“Doctor what’s wrong?” asked Yaz. A paleness had washed over the Doctor’s face and her eyes had widened. The Doctor wasn’t expecting those co-ordinates, any co-ordinates but those. She backed away slightly and braced herself against the railings behind her. The coolness of the metal grounding her for a moment. “Doctor what is it?” asked Yaz again.

“It’s Gallifrey…those are the co-ordinates of Gallifrey,” she said looking up at them.


End file.
